Last-minute shoppers cram mall

Area residents use Christmas Eve to check off names on their gift lists.

Area residents use Christmas Eve to check off names on their gift lists.

December 25, 2009|By ERIN BLASKO Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA -- Cami Peck had no intention of spending Christmas Eve morning shopping, but because of an Italian plumber, she found herself Thursday at University Park Mall. "I have all my shopping done except for my husband," the Goshen resident said. "I saved that for last, and I'm waiting for a shipment at GameStop for a new (Nintendo) Wii game." That game? "Super Mario Bros. Wii," she said. Lest Peck feel chagrined for dawdling so, she apparently was far from alone. A survey conducted earlier this month by the National Retail Federation revealed about 12 percent of Americans expected to finish their holiday shopping this year no earlier than Dec. 24. Traffic at UP Mall seemed to bear that out. A steady stream of shoppers, bags in hand, hurried through the mall's main concourse all morning Thursday, stopping only to rest and grab a bite to eat. One such shopper, Karen Erlacher, of Elkhart, sat alone on a bench near the mall's main entrance, hemmed in by shopping bags. "I'm one of those procrastinators," she said. She had planned to finish her shopping Wednesday evening, she said, but was worried about the weather. And if the weather had been equally bad Thursday? "I would have been giving people a lot of money," she said, "or a lot of envelopes with messages telling them what they would have gotten." Nearby, Amanda Stewart, noshing on a soft pretzel, made clear her membership in Erlacher's camp. "I always wait until the last minute," the Elkhart woman said. Like Peck, she was waiting for Super Mario Bros. Wii to arrive at GameStop, for her daughter. The pixelated plumber claims another victim. But poor planning did not account for the presence of every last-minute shopper. For John Grumpf and his son, 8-year-old Brady, Thursday's outing had to do with tradition. "My son and I have always done this," the South Bend man said. "We like to come out and buy mom and my daughter and his sister something. "And honestly, it's one of the better days to come out, it's not real crowded." And? "It helps keep him busy on the eve of the most exciting day of the year," he admitted, smiling at his son. Staff writer Erin Blasko: eblasko@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6187